Samsung, Other Chronograph Manufacturers Challenge The Apple Watch, But Who Gets To Eat The Humble Pie?

by Benson Agoha | Technology

Expect competition in wearable technologies to heat up in the coming months, much like their smart phones counterpart.

* The New Samsung Gear S2 Smart Watch.

Electronics and Chronograph manufacturers like Samsung, Sony and Swatch are responding to Apple's new Smartwatch. Sony and Swatch have given indication they intend to mount challenge for the market.

While Samsung was a given and with their determination to give a run of fight to the iPhone, no one expected otherwise.

So when Sony revealed it's planned premium smart watch last week, it wasn't much of a surprise because. However, Swatch has been silently developing their scaled down smart watch behind the scenes, though it is not expected to be arrive as a challenger to the Apple Watch because, it will not be loaded with many of the features that's the hallmark of the apple watch.

But like Samsung's Galaxy range of smart phones, the smart watch unveiled by Samsung is, according to city.am pushing against the Apple Watch’s growing dominance in wearable technology. Called Gear watch, it is not Samsung's first smartwatch attempt.

The new Galaxy Gear S2 smartwatch looks slick and beautiful and prides itself with how thin it looks on the wrist. It also has features that Samsung's earlier watches did not have.

* Apple CEO Tim Cooke shows of the Apple Watch.

Conor Pierce, vice president of IT and mobile of Samsung Electronics UK and Ireland, called it the "most exciting smartwatch to date", saying "Samsung has pioneered and led the wearables category over the last few years, bringing exciting new innovations into the market [...] With an incredibly vibrant screen, it's the first-ever watch with voice capability and a host of connected features like being able to make calls without the need for a smartphone."

The Galaxy Gear S2 has Metallic and feels sleek. At 11.4mm thickness, it is light on the wrist. The smartwatch has a 1.2 inch round display, and features a rotating bezel and 3G voice calls.

It even has physical back and home buttons, allowing wearer to dismiss notifications with just a click on their wrist.

But how well this new gear will do in the market remains to be seen.  Off all Samsung's range of smart communication devices, the Samsung Tablet is the most received.

Many will recommend the Samsung Tablet to a new buyer, in place of the iPad, unless he/she is fully loyal to the Apple brand. On the other, though a popular phone, the Samsung Galaxy smart phones never made it to the height of the iPhone which, has enjoyed a runaway success.

As wearables' sales take hold and sales of the Apple Watch has reportedly been good, though actual numbers have not been revealed, it remains to be seen which of the rival products will make it to the viable challenger status - or eat the humble pie - as is the case with the smart phone market.

* by Benson Agoha (and contributions from HuffPost and City.AM)